Down Cathedral stands on a hill above the town, on a site associated with monastic Down and the burial of St Patrick. The present Church of Ireland building dates mainly from 1818, but older material survives in fragments, including medieval walls and early stone crosses.
The grave marker outside is deliberately plain: a large granite slab placed in 1900 over the traditional burial place of Patrick, Brigid, and Columba. Whether you take the tradition literally or not, the setting gives Downpatrick its centre of gravity.